Romelu Lukaku reveals how Chelsea’s persistence turned his head this summer

Romelu Lukaku was strongly committed to Inter Milan at the start of the summer, and remained so even after the man who helped him achieve his best form, Antonio Conte jumped ship. But then, Chelsea came calling, the only team who could’ve changed his mind.

And Lukaku changed his mind.

Was it really that simple?

As Lukaku tells HLN on the eve of his 100th cap for Belgium, yeah, pretty much.

“I only realized that Chelsea were serious when they made their third offer. First they offered €100m. Then €105m, €105m plus Alonso. Then they offered €110m plus Zappacosta, but Inter said no.

“I didn’t want to go behind Inter’s back. They got me out of the shit. I was in a deep hole at Manchester United. After training I went to [head coach Simone] Inzaghi’s office. I didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere because I was no longer with my head in Milan. So I asked him: please find an agreement.”

-Romelu Lukaku; source: HLN via @HLNinEngeland

And shortly thereafter an agreement was indeed found, and that was that. He was home.

Who says transfers are hard? You just have to find the right player in the right place at the right time with the right record offer!